Arching My Back on Bench Press?

[gymBum]

whats up, i just had a quick question:
When i'm doing the bench press (incline too but not the decline) I have noticed that i can lift more if I arch my back a little. is this good or will it get me bigger quicker?

later

[gymBum]

You should definitely try not to arch your back. It is bad posture in general and can injure your back. You won't get bigger any faster because by arching your back you are taking the weight and ripping off of your chest and putting the strain on your back.

To prevent arching your back, put your feet on the pegs at the end of the bench (if your bench machine has them) and if not hold your knees up in the air. Also concentrate on keeping your back down. You will actually develop your pecks faster this way.

Good luck
Peace

[gymBum]

All good stuff, but I would recomend not lifting the legs up. You are to be firmly planted on the ground while lifting on the bench press. Also Leg aided presses can help you put up bigger weight causeing more stress on the pecs, which in turn produces results a lot faster. You should remember to keep your core tightened while lifting any lift. Doing this will cause your back to go into it's natural arch. You will never get a perfectly flat back due to that natural arch, but when you feel like your arching more tighten the core muscles (abs and lower back). So feet planted firmly on the ground and abs tightened. and bring the weight down to like a little under to the bottom half of your nipple. and remember that a strong back will make your bench progress and chest developement make gains faster and better.

Peace.

[gymBum]

thats great to know because I normally put my legs up, great advice. looking forward to my flat back and this will help me develop core muscles that were skipped because of putting my feet up..

thnx

[gymBum]

if ur arching ur back ur not gonna hit your chest as well, lifting the weight properly is more important then lifting as much weight as u can with bad form.

[gymBum]

If you have a spotter they should know to help take some weight off if you are starting to arch your back so having a good lifting partner is also a good thing for your progress.

[j0s1ah]

Involving your back makes this lift more dangerous, you do more reps/weight on almost all exercises if you use a little body english, but then the exercise places less stress on the desired muscle. Use strict form most of the time, don't jerk the bar, lower and raise smoothly.

[IamFat187]

All what has been said is pretty good, BUT you do have a natural tendency to arch your back, and you have a natural arch in your back. As long as you are not moving crazily and you remain solid while you bench arching your back is not bad. Arching your back allows you to actually get your chest where it should be, "puffed up" for a bench press. If you were to have your back flat that would involve your legs to be raised and that will make it harder to hit the pectoral muscle. that would actually put more stress onto the shoulders rather than the chest to move the weight.

[dmoore]

arching your back is perfect powerlifiting form i powerlift for headhunter barbell club and you get the biggest arch you possibly can mainly you push your ass into your shoulders. then you breathe in and hold all the air you can and stick out your belly as far as you can, keep your elbows as far to your side as you can (tuck them in) and touch the bar to the bottom of your sternum. once you touch you explode out and unleash the beast inside of you. get pissed real pissed and you will definately hit big weight. the form helps tremendously, believe me. now that works if you are trying to push big weight and get a lot stronger i can also give you my powerlifting routine. but if you are into bodybuilding then the tucked elbows isnt what you want you actually want to go inbetween not too low that you are hitting your tris but not too high so that you are stressing your ac joints. and remember a good squeeze for bodybuiding. hope that helps (and remeber to keep completly tight you whole body)

[Brice]

dmoore, if you don't mind, I would like to see your powerlifting routine. I'm a junior in high school and I powerlift, so a new routine could possibly be helpful to either help me to learn, or just to make a change so i can shock my muscles good and make them grow.